From October 26, 2025, to March 28, 2026, the civil aviation industry of China will implement the 2025/26 IATA winter flight schedule. Preparations for the schedule change are currently completed. In the new season, a total of 210 domestic and foreign airlines have scheduled 119,500 weekly passenger and cargo flights, representing a year-on-year increase of 1.3%. This indicates an overall development trend characterized by steady progress and improvement.
Regarding domestic flights, 59 airlines have scheduled 98,000 weekly domestic flights, remaining largely flat compared to the same period of 2024. This includes 95,477 weekly passenger flights and 2,624 weekly cargo flights. 39 airlines have newly launched 586 exclusive domestic routes, operating 5,198 weekly flights. Most of these routes are feeder and regional routes connecting Northwest China with East China, Northeast China with Central-south China, and Southwest China with East China. For instance, air routes have been strengthened between third and fourth-tier tourist destinations such as Altay, Kashi, Baishan, Yanji, Xishuangbanna, Dali, Beihai, Qionghai, and regions like Shanghai, Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangsu.
For international flights, 191 airlines have scheduled 21,427 weekly international flights, a year-on-year increase of 10.8%, connecting to 83 countries. In terms of passenger transport, connecting to 80 countries, 134 airlines (28 Chinese and 106 foreign) have scheduled 15,992 weekly flights (10,608 by Chinese carriers and 5,384 by foreign carriers), a year-on-year increase of 5.6%. For cargo transport, connecting to 49 countries, 84 airlines (17 Chinese and 67 foreign) have scheduled 5,435 weekly flights (3,191 by Chinese carriers and 2,244 by foreign carriers), a year-on-year increase of 1.7%.
